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After the old forum software breaking in a way that we were unable to fix, we've migrated the site to a new platform.

Some elements aren't working as we'd hoped - some avatars didn't survive the transition, and we're still having issues with attachments that weren't added as inline images, but we're hoping to have that all sorted out soon.

Ponte Vecchio Lusso - advice please?

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Comments

  • Brett HBrett H
    Nooooooooooo....oooooooo
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  • MoonMoon
    It's like this Brett The 2 big bully blends are giving the Columbian a hard time .. and the poor little blighters have fallen behind .. so seeing their behavior today was a little sub-standard, possibly due to yours truly not giving them my best work .. I thought I'd pause the program to give these feisty little fellas a bit of a pep talk in the morning about lifting their game too. As a result .. I'm expecting improved results in the cup.. or else.  me-->:pan<--bean                   
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  • MoonMoon
    Not long now before getting back into some more Easter coffee action. Brett last night ---> :tearhair:  Brett now --->  :) First up - Columbian piccolo.
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  • MoonMoon
    Columbian Excelso - Day 15 - 4oz piccolo latte. Tamp - medium Pour - 30 secs for 20ml. Rating - 9.2/10 I had 2 goes at this Columbian with the same result for both cups. Rating a 9.2/10 means it is an excellent coffee .. and therefore no slouch, only I was hoping for a bit more from this bean if it was to keep up with the other 2 megastars. it did not produce the crema I was expecting, although with the wider cup at the base .. the crema is spread outwards, rather than upwards, as it would in the narrower 6oz cup. The pour did not seem quite right .. and tended to spurt rather than a continuos smooth even flow. Having said the above .. I'd be very happy if someone served me up a coffee of this high quality. 9.2/10 is a  :thumb: Columbian Excelso - piccolo latte.
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  • MoonMoon
    Results for Round 1 -  std 6oz double-shot latte Major Tom - blend  9.25/10 Georges Premium - blend  9.25/10 Columbian Excelso - single origin  9.2/10
    Round 2 - 4oz single-shot piccolo latte Columbian Excelso - SO  9.2/10 Next up.. Georges Premium blend
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  • MoonMoon
    Georges Premium blend - Day 6 post roast - single basket - 4oz piccolo latte Tamp - medium Pour - 30 secs for 20ml. Rating - 9.35/10 Stunning coffee - smooth, full-flavored .. right up there with the best coffees I've ever had. Fabulous coffee in a std 6oz cup .. and even better as a piccolo. Georges Premium blend is one class act.
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  • MoonMoon
    Georges Premium blend
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  • MoonMoon
    Georges Premium blend This is what a stunning 9.35/10 piccolo latte looks like
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  • Brett HBrett H
    Yummy!!!!
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  • MoonMoon
    Major Tom blend - coming up shortly Can this megablend match Georges premium blend .. in the piccolo round? Get ready for the shootout folks .. will be a ring dinger. These 2 have gone neck and neck .. when the Premium scores a whopping 9.35/10 Calling Major Tom? Are you ready Major Tom?
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  • MoonMoon
    Major Tom blend 1. Tamp - Medium Pour - 25 secs for 20ml Microfoam - excellent Rating - crikey .. this is on par with Georges Premium Is this another 9.35/10? Better try the Georges Premium again.. 2. Similar pour I think I enjoyed the first a little better .. but is this because it was the first? Probably. Better try the Major Tom again.. just to make sure. 3. Hmm .. nice .. I think I enjoyed this one slightly more than the last Premium. Ok .. photo finish .. Major Tom gets the nod. Rating - 9.36/10 Major Tom pulls it off by a whisker.. slightly smoother.
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  • MoonMoon
    First Major Tom .. in the cup
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  • MoonMoon
    Round 2 results - 4oz piccolo latte. Columbian Excelso - 9.2/10 Georges Premium - 9.35/10 Major Tom - 9.36/10 Next - Round 3 - the decider - std 6oz double-basket latte.
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  • MoonMoon
    Round 3 - the decider - std 6oz double-basket latte First up --> Columbian Excelso
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  • MoonMoon
    Columbian Excelso - single origin. Tamp - light Pour - 20 secs for 22ml. Rating - 9.2/10 Another lovely coffee from the Columbian. If this wasn't up against the 2 outstanding blends, this bean would shine brightly among the group of top quality beans rating around the 9.1 mark. Scoring 9.2/10 without doubt places it in the 'elite' category.
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  • MoonMoon
    Columbian Excelso Consistent performer at a very high level.
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  • MoonMoon
    Next - Major Tom
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  • MoonMoon
    WE HAVE A WINNER!  :thumb:
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  • MoonMoon
    Round 3 - the decider * Decided to go head to head making both cups to compare. Major Tom - Day 14 Tamp - Light Pour - 25 +10 = 35 secs for 30ml Rating - 9.25/10
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  • MoonMoon
    Major Tom
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  • MoonMoon
    Georges Premium blend Tamp - Light Pour - 30 secs + 10 = 40 secs for 30ml Rating - 9.3/10
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  • MoonMoon
    Georges Premium blend The winning cup
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  • MoonMoon
    Moon declares the winner of the 2014 Easter Smackdown.. Congratulations
    > *GOLD MEDAL* - GEORGE'S PREMIUM BLEND Round 1 -  9.25/10 Round 2 - 9.35/10 Round 3 - 9.3/10 Total - 27.9
    MAJOR TOM blend - *SILVER MEDAL* Round 1 - 9.25/10 Round 2 - 9.36/10 Round 3 - 9.25/10 Total - 27.86
    COLUMBIAN EXCELSO - single origin - *BRONZE MEDAL* Round 1 - 9.2/10 Round 2 - 9.2/10 Round 3 - 9.2/10 Total - 27.6 Congrats to all 3 fantastic beans .. it has bean a real pleasure .. trust me  :thumb:
    Other categories * Most crema * Best flavour * Most satisfying * WOW factor George's Premium took them all out. Bit greedy .. but hey .. well deserved.
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  • Brett HBrett H
    No slumming it in that prize pool.  You know, you've got a single origin up against blends there... Remember when the AWDs won Bathurst the first time!?!?  Just sayin!!  ;) Just for fun can you PM me the link to buy some of your winner.  I'm off to sell a tamper to buy a new one. 
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  • MoonMoon
    Winner Google - Georges Coffee - it is the top one .. as in Georges Gourmet Coffee Georges Premium blend For the other one Google - Ground Control Coffee - it is also the top one .. in South Tweed. Major Tom blend Columbia Excelso is via forum sponsor .. mycuppa.
    I'm not familiar with Bathurst history. mycuppa's Guatemala single origin rated a 9.3/10 .. admittedly .. at it's peak. KK's Yirgacheffe single origin rated a 9.3/10 at one stage. The best a blend could manage was a 9.2/10 since I've had my new PV Lusso coffee machine. No blend had previously rated a 9.3/10.. I therefore thought that a really good single origin would have no problem competing with blends. Just so happens .. the 2 blends I chose on this occasion .. are exceptional. * Is it common knowledge that a good blend will always/nearly always beat a good single origin? In future though .. I'll group the blends and single origins together .. and then maybe I can rate them and put those that rate about the same .. into a smackdown further down the track. Columbian Excelso rated a 9.2/10 <--- Keep in mind that this score is giving it a huge compliment. As good as it is .. it wasn't enough to win this time. Sometimes .. life is just not fair lol  :stir
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  • MoonMoon
    Feel free to come up with suggestions for a roasted blend for the next smackdown? I'll be checking around the forum/s for possible candidates. Won't be for another few weeks as I have to get through this current lot first ..... and loving it, of course.  :P I'll be ditching the Zentvelds and stale Coffex Super Bar that I bought the other day. Scoring the good stuff more than makes up for the duds .. you inevitably end up with when trying out different beans. Failing that .. i.e. recommendations - I've bean thinking about going to St Ali in South Melbourne .. and although expensive .. remember their beans to be top notch. Haven't bean there for about 2-3 years.. and have fond memories of the two I had purchased at the time. Their house blend were the cheapest @ $40/kilo back then.. I remember thinking at the time that these beans would be nice as a treat .. only hope I don't become addicted to them. Could get a smaller amount of a few of their varieties to compare in a shootout .. as I'm sure there's bound to be a cracker or 2 onboard .. making the trip and $ worthwhile. At least now I know I can extract their best out of 'em. Please note: At risk of sounding snobbish .. 'quite nice' beans need not apply .. I'm looking for, and prefer drinking 'excellent' these days.  :angel: <--- snob
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  • MoonMoon
    False pressure. Thought I'd indulge in another one of those wonderful George's Premium piccolo lattes that blew my mind during the smackdown. Running low on water, I put a little filtered water into the boiler and turned it on without opening the steam valve knob that I would usually do after turning on. I normally leave it open to drain out the residual steam pressure after turning the machine off. I feel it is better for the machine not to have the pressure left in the boiler when not in use. Usually when the water is reaching boiling point ..  the valve is already open to allow the false pressure to escape for about 30 secs before turning the knob off .. only didn't on this occasion. When pressing down the lever and releasing to get the first few drops .. the lever jumped up, due to air in the cylinder not being replaced by the water. I had to repeat this action about 4 times before the lever held in the horizontal position to then release for the extraction. I noticed that a small amount of coffee squirted out sideways from the Portafilter. My initial thought was that this may have been due to the ring-clip inside the PF not holding the basket in firmly, and that the end of the clip needed to be bent a little more to hold the basket in place more firmly .. as this was the solution the last time this happened. I suspect now .. that it may have been caused by the false pressure not being drained off prior to the extraction. The coffee turned out pretty ordinary. The punishment for my neglect .... was that I was deprived of the awesome piccolo coffee I was so much looking forward to drinking. It was drinkable .. in a strange kind of way.. only it should have bean a sinker. I got lazy.  :head: and suffered the consequences. Lesson learned.  :'(
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  • LacehimLacehim
    on 1398253979:
    The coffee turned out pretty ordinary.
    As it would.  When you release the false pressure it heats the water further, and also your machine wouldn't be up to temp I suspect because of the false pressure. It's an easy mod to put an antivac in by the way.  remove the safety valve, and replace with a T, then put the safety valve on one end, and a antivac with an elbow on the other.  Easy.  There's a thread about it on here somewhere. :)
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  • Brett HBrett H
    on 1398299475:
    As it would.  When you release the false pressure it heats the water further, and also your machine wouldn't be up to temp I suspect because of the false pressure. It's an easy mod to put an antivac in by the way.  remove the safety valve, and replace with a T, then put the safety valve on one end, and a antivac with an elbow on the other.  Easy.  There's a thread about it on here somewhere. :)
    An awesome thread with awesome pictures  :thumb:
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  • MoonMoon
    Antivac .. yeah I had a read of Lacehim's mod a while back. Releasing the false pressure is a part of my routine these days .. and doesn't annoy me enough to do the modification.. as I rarely forget to release it .. and no big deal if I do. Only had a Portafilter sneeze once so far .. messy at the time. Tried out my Spong No4 hand grinder the other day without much success. I should've used my dud beans instead of the good ones .. and ended up wasting a bit trying to get the grind right. Initially it was too fine .. and choked. Gradually adjusted it coarser until it poured ok. The problem then was that the grinds were too coarse .. and the shot, and latte was too way too weak. After several tries .. I gave up .. seeing I was hanging out for a coffee. I have used up all of my Major Tom and George's Premium beans .. and onto mycuppa's Columbia single origin. Varying results with those fantastic blends .. and now that they are finished for the time being .. I am able to focus on just how nice the Columbian beans are .. having bean overshadowed by the megablends. Yep .. those Columbians are excellent .. and enjoying them much more now than during the recent smackdown. They've bean rating 9.2/10 .. which is right up there. No complaints about these babies from me.  :coffee2:
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